The present disclosure relates to a technique of deciding a fee calculation and a fee payer of a communication fee in a network system.
In recent years, traffic has abruptly increased with the spread of large-capacity content. Communication providers that operate network systems are currently forced to make a significant investment for countermeasures. In addition, an audio average revenue per user (ARPU) decreases, and there is a concern that corporate profits of communication providers would decrease. Against this background, many communication providers have changed a billing system from a typical flat rate system to a metered rate system. The metered rate system is a system that billing is made in a step-by-step manner. A communication control device operated by a communication provider narrows a communication band (performs a communication regulation) and suppresses a communication rate for a user device (also referred to as a “terminal”) when a communication data amount for the user device exceeds a predetermined amount. In order to recover the communication rate, the user has to accept new billing.
Currently, service providers provide various services using a network system. Examples of the service include a world wide web (WWW), an e-mail system, a moving image provision service, and a car navigation system including a high-resolution image or video.
In recent years, with the spread of high-performance mobile terminals represented by smartphones, an environment in which various services can be used by one terminal has been created. A target for which a predetermined communication data amount serving as a threshold value for a communication regulation is counted includes all communications of various services.
For example, in car navigation systems, text data or many images are commonly regarded as main components. In the car navigation system that receives many images using the network system, since large-capacity data is used compared to WWW or the e-mail system, a large amount of communication is likely to occur, and there is a feature in which a screen or a video needs to be delivered according to driving of a vehicle. When the user enjoys a service such as a moving image provision service or a car navigation system through its own device, it may be a target for the communication regulation due to a prolonged use or the like.
A target for which a predetermined communication data amount is counted includes a plurality of services provided to the same user device in addition to the service of the car navigation system. As an example of a special service of the car navigation system, there is also a form in which rich content associated with audio guidance is provided at a high resolution. When a predetermined communication data amount is exceeded due to the use of such a form of the service by the user device, a service quality of a necessary service, for example, a service quality of the car navigation system is not secured due to the communication regulation, and a delivery delay of an image or a video or the like occurs.
In other words, the user device is subject to the communication regulation due to communication of a service other than the car navigation system, and thus it is hard to enjoy the original service quality of the necessary service.